Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory: Principles, policy and practice
At the start of the 2010 school year, the number of hours of bilingual teaching in Northern Territory Two-Way schools is set to decrease by more than half. The public debate that followed the announcement of this policy change revealed a need for further research on the models, achievements and challenges of bilingual education in Indigenous communities.
Find out more about the Symposia
Read the Press Statement: Bilingual education symposium to discuss NT policy
Read the Press Statement: Bilingual the Best way to learn English
National Indigenous Times article on the Symposia
Courier Mail article by Peter Michael and Natalie Gregg
He is a living relic and an ancient linguistic treasure.Kuku Thaypan elder Tommy George, 82, is the sole surviving fluent speaker of his language.
Kuku Thaypan elder Tommy George. Picture: Brian Cassey Photography
“I’m the last of them,” said the son of an Aboriginal king. “Everybody knows that.”
When the famed tracker dies, 48,000 years of oral history – from beyond the Dreamtime – dies with him.
Kuku Thaypan, one of four Aboriginal languages spoken in Quinkan country on Cape York, is destined for extinction like 120 other dialects lost across Australia since European settlement.
Despite efforts of academics, the primordial tongue and ancient secrets of the old healer handed down from generation to generation will likely vanish.
It is estimated that of more than 300 specific Aboriginal languages in use pre-British arrival, there will be fewer than 100 left by 2050.
Get the lastest from the team at Nalingu, Mitchell.
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